


Across the Universe

by saintgenevieve



Series: Satellite Call [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura's relationship with the Paladins, Also Klance but not super a lot, F/M, Friendship, God this is going to fucking kill me, Grieving, I ship it so hard, Like serious pining and angst for most of it, Love Confessions, M/M, Pining, Shallura for the win, There's goNNA BE SEX, True Love, let Shiro rest, maybe next chapter, or the one after if there is one
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-07
Updated: 2017-10-03
Packaged: 2018-12-25 01:59:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12025701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saintgenevieve/pseuds/saintgenevieve
Summary: Allura takes a deep breath. “Pidge…what is a soulmate?”“What?”“Shiro told Keith I was his ‘soulmate,’ but I don’t really understand what that word means.”





	1. For Forever

Allura will never admit it to anyone—not to Coran or Keith or any of the other Paladins—but losing Shiro almost destroys her. She doesn’t fall apart, because there’s a job to do and she must be strong. She doesn’t cry, doesn’t throw tantrums like Keith, doesn’t tell anyone how much it hurts that he’s gone. No, she suffers in silence and pretends that everything’s alright.

But it _hurts._ It feels like someone wrenched open her chest, cracked her ribs back, and ripped her heart out. Sometimes she can barely breathe around the ache in her soul and she almost can’t stop herself from screaming and tearing her hair out by the roots. She wants to break down, wants to rage and wail, but she doesn’t. She is a princess, and Shiro would want her to keep going.

It’s only after Keith finds her curled up in Shiro’s blanket, sitting in the Black Lion’s hanger, that she admits what the castle’s inhabitants had already suspected or known.

“We were together,” she tells him softly, twisting a lock of hair nervously around her fingers.

Keith gives her a small smile—which are fewer and further between since Shiro’s…disappearance—and sits down beside her. “I know.”

“You do?”

He rolls his eyes, suddenly seeming the teenager she knows he is. “Of course. I saw you sneaking out of his room a couple months ago, and I noticed the way he always looked at you. I’m pretty sure Pidge knows, and Hunk too. The two of you weren’t particularly subtle—though Lance and Coran are both pretty oblivious.”

Allura sighs. “I miss him so much.”

“Yeah. Me too.”

They are both silent for a moment, mourning the man they had both loved—though in completely different ways.

“I’m sorry,” Keith finally says.

Allura looks at him. “What for?”

“I’ve only been thinking about myself, about my pain. I didn’t even stop to think about what you’re going through. I’ve never been in love with anyone,” he admits. “But I know what love looks like because of Shiro. He loved—loves—you, Allura.”

She bows her head. “I love him too, more than I ever expected to love anyone. But I was afraid to tell him. What if I never get the chance now?” she asks, her voice thick with sorrow.

“Do you remember when all the Lions fell through the wormhole and got lost?”

She nods.

“Shiro thought he might die then. He had that glowing-wound-thing and he was afraid he’d never see you again. He said, ‘Tell her she’s my soulmate, Keith. Tell her I love her more than anything else in this whole universe, and that every bad thing that’s happened to me has been worth it, because it led me to her.’”

“He really said that?”

“Yeah.”

Allura blinks away her tears and swallows past the lump in her throat. “Thank you,” she says softly, leaning her shoulder into his. 

 

She’s sitting at the dining table, staring idly at nothing, exhausted but unable to sleep. All her dreams are nightmares and she wakes every night screaming for Shiro. She longs for him with every fiber of her being, craves the sound of his voice and the warmth of his arms around her. Allura doesn’t really know when she started needing him, but she knows she does. Somehow, he became as vital to her as air, as one of her own limbs. Without him, there is an ache deep in her bones and she fears she may never be warm again.

“Allura?” Pidge’s voice is low and concerned. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she lies, “Just tired.”

The younger girl snorts and sits down beside her. “You’re almost as bad at lying as Hunk,” she says.

Allura manages a weak smile at that. “Sometimes the best thing a diplomat can do is lie. However, it has never been my strong suit.”

“I know how hard this must be for you.”

“I don’t want your pity, Pidge.” She pinches the bridge of her nose between two fingers, desperately trying to soothe her headache—a side-effect from too-little sleep.

“I’m not offering pity, Princess. Just lending an ear…or a shoulder to cry on, if that’s what you need.”

“I just…I just need him back. I need him here, safe and sound, beside me—where he belongs. I need _him_.”

Pidge nods. “I understand.”

“Keith said Shiro loved me,” Allura confesses.

“He did—does. Didn’t you ever notice the way his voice changed when he was talking to you? The expressions on his face when he looked at you? His eyes lit up and his voice went all soft and gentle. He focused all his attention on you when you were talking, and sometimes I would just catch him staring at you with this little, love-struck smile on his face. Trust me, he’s head-over-heels for you—has been since the beginning.”

Allura takes a deep breath. “Pidge…what is a soulmate?”

“What?”

“Shiro told Keith I was his ‘soulmate,’ but I don’t really understand what that word means.”

Pidge gnaws thoughtfully on her bottom lip. “A soulmate is someone who is ideally suited to another person—usually in a romantic way. It means that that person is the love of your life, and they’re the only person in the universe who you…fit with, I guess. Does that make sense?”

“Yes. We have a similar word in Altean, I was just unsure of the meaning. Thank you, Pidge.”

“No problem.”

 

She sleeps in his room—when she sleeps at all. Allura curls up beneath his blanket and buries her face in the pillow that still smells like him—though only barely. She lies in his bed, the bed he had shared with her, and wonders if she will ever see him again. In the silence that was once filled with his breathing, she begins to lose hope.

_“You are so beautiful,” he says softly, pressing a kiss to her pulse point. “The most beautiful woman in the universe.”_

_She giggles, squirming beneath him as he continues to shower her with kisses. “Shiro,” she sighs, pressing her palms to his bare back and appreciating the shifting of his muscles beneath his warm skin._

_“I love it when you say my name,” he murmurs into the skin between her breasts. “Say it again.”_

_“Shiro,” she says, and then softer, “ **Takashi**.” _

_He groans brokenly, pressing his hips desperately into hers. “God, Allura.”_

_“Please,” she gasps out. “Please, I need— “_

_“I know what you need,” he says, breath hot against her lips, as his hand trails down to the junction of her thighs._

She wakes, desire and grief coursing through her, and tears spring to her eyes. She blinks them away. She will not break. If she does, she’ll never be able to put herself back together again.

 

The man they’re fighting is familiar somehow—the way he moves, the shape of his body. When his mask falls away, Allura’s heart stops and she has to resist the urge to fling herself at him and bury her face in his neck. But she swallows down the impulse and forces herself back into the role of strong princess.

“Why did you attack the captain and his crew?” She’s proud her voice doesn’t waver.

“Stay back, Altean,” he says, and he doesn’t know her at all.

Allura does her best to put the man who is not Shiro—Sven—out of her mind. Which is surprisingly easy, especially when the Alteans board the ship and call her an Empress.

When she fights Hira, she channels all her pain and aggression into it, all the loneliness and fear, and releases it in the form of brutality. After, as they’re trying to get back to their Lions, she wants to stop, to speak to Sven—or at least use him to re-memorize her beloved Shiro’s face. But there’s no time.

There’s never been enough time. Perhaps there never will be.

 

Later, she finds herself wandering aimlessly through the winding halls of the castle, the hem of her nightgown trailing behind her like a shroud. She idly wonders if Sven, Shiro’s odd doppelgänger, is still alive. She hopes he is—he saved Lance and he was trying to save his reality from injustice. How very like her Shiro, self-sacrificing and brave and foolhardy.

She had never hated anyone before Zarkon, before his terrible war. But how she loathed him now! He has taken her parents, her planet, her culture. He has destroyed everything in the universe she held dear. Because of him, she is an orphan.

But when she began to fall in love with Shiro, the rage and hatred festering inside her—which she tried very much to hide—softened. The roiling darkness within her heart lightened. Shiro, warm and solid, made her happier than she’d ever hoped to be again. Even in the midst of the war with the Galra, she had found herself to be ludicrously happy whenever he smiled at her.

Then he disappeared. And the hate has begun to fill her again, sharp enough that it cuts her when she moves and makes her insides ache. Everything is easier with she’s with Shiro, it’s easy to love and forgive and forget, but without him she fears she is incapable. She doesn’t think she’s cruel by nature—she doesn’t think anyone is really. Cruelty is taught, and Zarkon and his Galra have taught her extensively.

She finds herself in one of the many observatories, a room with a clear, domed ceiling that was made to admire the vastness of space, void and stars and planets to be seen from it. This one is a particular favorite—the floor is covered in large, plush pillows and the walls are draped with bright tapestries. The whole room smells fresh and sweet, and reminds Allura of her mother. And tonight, she isn’t the only one there.

Lance is lying on one of the pillows, spread out and staring into the vast darkness that shimmers with distant stars. He turns his head at the sound of her footsteps and smiles—a real, genuine smile, not one of his ridiculously flirty looks. He’s using Keith’s red jacket like a blanket. “Hey.”

“Hello, Lance.”

“Can’t sleep?”

She nods and sits down beside him. He hasn’t tried to flirt with her since Shiro’s disappearance, and she thinks Keith is wrong—Lance does know. “Unfortunately, no. And you?”

He heaves a great sigh. “I miss my family…and I almost died today and was saved by someone who looked almost exactly like my missing teammate. I’m not sure if I’m the best “right hand” for Voltron, I have a huge crush on Keith, and, to be honest, I’m really scared one of us will die before I ever work up the courage to tell him.”

She takes his hand in hers, twisting their fingers together. “I can’t sleep,” she tells him softly, “because I’ve gotten so used to sleeping with Shiro next to me, that now he’s gone everything feels wrong. I’m not sure if I’m right to be a Paladin of Voltron at all, I spend most of my time trying not to fall apart, and I should have told Shiro I loved him from the moment I first knew. I may not get the chance now.”

Lance squeezes her hand. “He knows.”

She swallows hard and pushes her pain away. “So…Keith?”

The younger boy flushes. “Yeah. It’s ridiculous, I know, but it’s like…gravity. Like I’m just pulled toward him, and I don’t want to resist. I just wanna be close to him, like, all the time. Heck, I stole his jacket because I don’t know how to deal with my feelings.”

“You should tell him. Take it from someone who knows, you shouldn’t wait too long.”

Lance gives another long-suffering sigh.

“This is where we first kissed,” she confesses.

He sits up to look at her. “Really?”

She finds herself grinning. “Yes. It was about a week after my father…and just before I was captured by the Galra. Anyway, I couldn’t sleep, so I was reading in here. Shiro couldn’t either, and found his way here. I read to him, this sweet story about two lovers who came from different planets and had to make their way to each other from across the other side of the universe. It was my favorite tale as a child. When the story was finished, we were both very tired, so we just laid down together right here. But still, neither of us could sleep. We talked and talked—about everything and nothing, about Earth and Altea, about everything we wanted to do after the war.”

Lance leans forward, enraptured.

“We were lying on our sides, so close I could feel his breath on my face. I think I was talking about some festival I’d attended, when suddenly he reached out and cupped my face in his hand. He stroked his thumb across my cheek and whispered, ‘If I kissed you now, princess, would it screw everything up?’ And I replied, ‘It would be worse if you didn’t kiss me.’ So he did. We kissed for hours, soft and slow, exchanging sweet nothings until my lips were swollen and Shiro could barely keep his eyes open. He pulled me even closer, so my head rested on his chest and I could hear his heartbeat. We fell asleep like that, legs tangled, warm and content. It was the first time I didn’t have any nightmares.”

“Wow,” Lance breathes.

Allura finds herself giggling. “Wow, indeed. Shiro might blush if I told you, but he’s quite a lovely kisser.”

“I’ll be sure to tease him mercilessly about it when he comes back.” A pause. “You miss him a lot, don’t you?”

“More and more every day. I’ve heard it said that time heals all wounds, but nothing helps with this. I know I have to be strong—for the team and for the war—but I’m so tired, Lance.”

“Hey, you don’t have to be strong all the time. We’d understand if you, you know, had to scream or cry or break stuff. If Keith is allowed to yell at foreign leaders about it, then you can definitely break down. Shiro’s your boyfriend, Allura. You love him, and right now he’s gone. You should be able to grieve.”

“If I start, I’ll never stop. That’s what I’ve been telling myself this whole time,” she says. “I can’t allow myself to let go, not now.”

 

There’s someone knocking on the door. This, in and of itself, is strange considering it’s Shiro’s room and Allura doesn’t technically live there. She just spends lots of time there. She’s foolish to have thought that no one noticed. “Come in,” she says, once she’s certain she’s decent—wearing one of Shiro’s shirts over her nightgown.

Hunk enters, carrying a tray of food, blushing a little. “Lance suggested I might find you here; I hope you’re hungry.”

“I’m not, really.”

He gives her a look. “I can’t remember the last time I saw you eat, Princess. You’re too thin and I know you’re not sleeping. If you’re not sleeping, you should at least be eating.” He presses the tray into her hands. “I’m not leaving until you’ve eaten everything.”

“Hunk—”

“Nope. I don’t care that you’re a princess, Allura, you’re wasting away. If you don’t eat, I’ll have everyone hold you down and make you.”

She raises an eyebrow. “You think you can overpower me?”

“I think I can try. Please, please, just…”

“Alright, if you feel so strongly about it.” So she eats. It doesn’t really taste like anything, or if it does, she doesn’t notice. But dutifully, she chews and swallows and feels somewhat better when the tray is empty.

Hunk breathes a sigh of relief when she’s finished. “I know you’re hurting, but Shiro wouldn’t want you to ignore your health. It’s important for you to eat, and, to be honest, you’re really starting to worry Coran…and the rest of us.”

“I’m sorry,” she says miserably.

“You don’t have to apologize. When my uncle died, it was like part of my aunt died too. She didn’t want to eat, didn’t want to leave the house, didn’t want to do anything. But then, after about a month of that, my mom had had enough. She moved her sister into our house, and forced her to eat and go outside. Mom watched her like a hawk, and made me help. We did whatever we could to make her feel better. Shiro’s not dead, but you’re grieving. It’s okay to not be okay. Just let us help you.”

“What if he never comes back? What if we never find him? What am I supposed to do then? How can I keep fighting, keep living?”

Hunk sat down on the bed and hugged her close, being as gentle as possible—like she was a wounded animal. “You just gotta. There’s no real cure for heartache, you’ve just got to keep going and eventually things will get better.”

“They won’t. Not without him.”  

 

And then a miracle!

 _Alive, alive, alive! Shiro, my Shiro, is alive!_ Allura’s heart pounds as Keith brings him in, and it feels like the universe—which had previously, painfully, been spinning out of control—is righting itself. She can breathe again. Her soul has returned.

She rushes to the hanger, desperate to see him, to be close to him again. She stands very still, leaning forward, as Keith helps Shiro from the Black Lion.

His hair is longer, and he seems older somehow. It might be the scruff on his face, she thinks, or the torture he must have endured in the time he’d been gone. But otherwise, he is exactly the same. He’s still Shiro, her _soulmate_.

His eyes meet hers and he smiles. “Allura,” he says, and she can’t hold back anymore.

She rushes forward, throwing her arms around him and breathing in his familiar, comforting scent. He stumbles back a step, before catching himself, and folds her into his embrace. All her pain evaporates, replaced by a joy so strong it brings tears to her eyes. She pulls back, his large hands framing her face, and sees that he’s also close to tears.

With a broken sob, she fists her hands in his hair and brings his head down to hers. Their lips meet and her whole body reacts, tingling from the top of her head to the soles of her feet. Allura feels more alive, more awake, than she has in _months_. It’s like everything had been in shades of grey, but now color has returned to her world.

They separate when Lance wolf-whistles, and Allura can hear Pidge cackling in the background. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Keith and Lance exchange what she assumes is human currency, and she can’t help but flush at the idea that the Paladins have been placing bets on her romantic life. Of course, she and Shiro had placed their own bets on who would find out first when their relationship had begun, so she isn’t in any position to judge.

Allura isn’t crying anymore; in fact, she can’t stop smiling. And she refuses to let go of Shiro.

 

They go back to his room—once everyone has greeted him and he’s proven that he’s as well as possible, considering the circumstances. He takes a shower and she slips out of her clothes and into one of his over-sized shirts. She’s sitting on the bed when Shiro comes out of the bathroom, his bare chest glistening with water and distracting her to an almost absurd degree. Stars, but she’s missed his chest. To be perfectly honest, she’s missed everything about him.

He smiles at her and leans down to press a gentle kiss to her lips. “Missed you,” he says, echoing her thoughts perfectly.

She cups his face between her hands and pulls him down for a longer, less gentle kiss. He tastes the same, and his mouth moves against hers like the last time they’d done this was the day before. Allura maneuvers him back onto the bed, her on top and straddling him. His hands flex on her hips and she sighs. It feels so good to be touching him again, so good to be here. She presses him into the mattress, kissing him harder, with just a hint of teeth, like maybe she can keep him from ever leaving again if she can get close enough.

“I want you inside me,” she whispers into his mouth, enjoying the way he groans in answer. She shucks off his shirt, and naked, begins to move her hips against his.

His eyes meet hers, and he’s so hard between her thighs. She needs this, and she knows he needs it too. He won’t be truly back unless they make love. With a practiced ease, Allura pulls his pants down enough to free his cock and sheathes him inside her. She’s wet enough that there’s almost no resistance as he glides in.

She moans, head thrown back and eyes tightly closed. She feels his fingers digging into her skin and half-hopes they leave bruises so she can wear the marks of his passion for the next week. He’s so big, so good, and he moves fluidly, thrusting up and hitting the perfect spot each time. Allura rakes her nails across his chest and grinds down.

Shiro growls and flips them. She arches into him, gasping, and he moves faster. Her heart pounds and she can barely breathe for how good it feels. “Please, please,” she begs, though for what she doesn’t quite know.

He wriggles a hand between their bodies and presses his fingers to the bundle of nerves at the apex of her thighs, mouth hard on hers. She shudders beneath him and comes with a cry, which he swallows. He thrusts once, twice, three times more, and then groans, burying his teeth in the junction of her shoulder and neck as he lets go.

Shiro collapses boneless on top of her, head pillowed on her breasts, breathing hard. Allura can feel him trembling with the aftershocks of pleasure and exertion. “Was that too soon?” she asks, tenderly pushing his hair back from his sweaty brow.

“No. It was perfect,” he answers, softening slowly inside her. “I just need a minute.”

She smiles. “Take all the time you need.”

After a while, he pulls out, and they settle as they usually do: Allura’s head on his chest, arms around each other, naked and legs tangled together. She listens to the music of his heartbeat and knows that this is what peace feels like.

“Shiro?”

“Hmmm?” He’s almost asleep, idly stroking her hair, but this can’t wait.

“I love you,” she tells him quietly.

His hand stills and his heart beats a little faster. “Allura—”

“You don’t have to say it back, but I thought you should know. I was afraid, when you disappeared, that I’d never have the chance to tell you how I feel and what you mean to me. I love you, Takashi Shirogane, and I’ll love you until I cease to exist.”

Shiro presses a kiss to the top of her head. “I love you, too. I should have told you before, but I was…I don’t know. I thought maybe you wouldn’t feel the same way. We’re so different; hell we come from different planets. But I don’t think that matters anymore. I’m so in love with you, Allura.”

“Sleep, my love. We have time now,” she says.

“Love you,” he mumbles. He has to say it one last time.

“I love you, too.”

They sleep holding each other, and Allura is undeniably happy. She prays it can last.  


	2. Only Us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of the relationship, from Shiro's point of view. 
> 
> Also, Allura didn't tell Lance the whole story of her and Shiro's first kiss.

Shiro is almost a hundred percent sure that it’s against protocol to imagine what it would be like to fuck one’s superior officer against a wall. It doesn’t stop him, of course, but he knows it’s unprofessional. He also knows that his superior officer— _Princess_ Allura of Altea—is the most beautiful woman in the universe and he is falling for her. Head over heels, ass over tea-kettle, hard and fast as a comet.

He’s not entirely sure when it started though. He thinks it might have been during the food fight, seeing the look of determination when she’d launched that first spoonful of food-goo at Pidge. And then the way she’d smiled when they started working together. He hadn’t realized it at the time, too focused on the mission, but he has to admit to himself that that was the first time he’d really noticed how beautiful she is.

And she _is_ beautiful. Allura is the most beautiful person he’s ever met, and he’s met a lot of people. He’s dated a bit, so he isn’t, by any definition, a blushing virgin. But he isn’t super experienced either. He does know, however, that a relationship with Allura isn’t the best idea.

Sure, she’s clever and brave and—as mentioned before—very beautiful. But she’s a princess. She’s his superior officer. And—also as mentioned before—he knows it’s definitely not protocol to imagine what it would be like to _fuck_ one’s _superior officer_ against a goddamn wall.

He is so screwed.

She’s just so…amazing. There are somehow too many, and not enough, words to describe everything she is and what she means to Shiro. He was trapped in darkness for a year, a time so horrifying he can barely remember it, but whenever Allura smiles he can forget about it and find peace. Her laugh soothes the scars, her touch eases the pain. It’s easy to fall for her, the easiest thing he’s ever done.

But, _fuck_ , why can’t he just fucking tell her?

It’s not that Shiro’s bad with words, he isn’t. He managed to talk the Garrison out of expelling Keith. _Twice_. He just doesn’t know if she feels the same. What if he confesses, she doesn’t feel the same way, and it messes everything up? What if it affects the team? Or what if she does feel the same? What then?

Just trying to figure it out gives him a migraine.

 

It’s late. Or, at least, it feels late; there isn’t any way to really track time in deep space. But Shiro knows it’s been nearly forty-eight hours since he last slept—like really slept—which is probably why he feels like his eyelids are made of sandpaper and his hands and feet are lead. He’s exhausted, but he can’t sleep. It’s annoying, really, how often this happens. Plagued as he is by nightmares and shattered memories, he rarely has a peaceful night’s rest.

So, he wanders the ship. Explores it’s twisting, labyrinthine halls while everyone else slumbers. Well, not everyone.

Allura is sitting in the observatory, a tablet cradled in her hands, long hair a waterfall of silver silk down her back. She’s so lovely, Shiro’s breath catches in his throat. When she looks up and smiles at him, he thinks his heart stops.

“Hello,” she says softly.

“Hello, Princess. Shouldn’t you be asleep?”

She shrugs. “I could ask you the same question, my paladin.” Her smile melts like snow in spring. “Are you having nightmares?”

Shiro swallows hard and takes a seat on the cushion beside her. “Yeah. But I’m okay, Princess. Really.”

Allura arches an eyebrow. “If you say so. And you don’t have to call me “Princess” all the time. You can simply call me by my name.”

“You’re my superior officer,” Shiro points out, reminding himself as well as her.

“Well then, as your superior officer, I command you to call me by my given name,” she says primly.

He grins. “Alright…Allura.” He loves the way her name sounds, and loves the way she flushes even more.

She looks away from him, up and out to the stars. “Is Shiro your only name?”

“What?”

“Some beings only have one name, like Alteans, but others have two or three or more. Do you have more than one name?”

He nods. “My full name is Takashi Shirogane; Shiro is just a nickname.”

“Takashi,” she purrs, tasting his name on her tongue. “I like it. Does it have a particular meaning?”  

Is it getting warmer, or is it just him? “My mom told me it meant noble, prosperous, and honorable…or something like that.”

“It fits. You are quite noble, Takashi.”

He wants to kiss her; he changes the subject instead. “What are you reading?”

“It’s an old story and hard to explain. It might be easier if I read it to you…”

“Please.”

So, she read to him.

_In a time long past, there lived a beautiful girl. She was clever and determined, the princess of a planet. One day, a rival empire invaded and the princess was captured. She was taken several star systems away, and while imprisoned met a young woman with kind eyes. The princess fell in love with the woman. But then, she was taken from the prison, far away, to the empire’s center, to marry the cruel ruler. The woman, who was a great warrior from a conquered planet, broke out of jail and resolved to save her lover. She made her way across the universe, fighting monsters and protecting innocents._

_She found her way to the center of the empire, only to find out that the princess had killed her repugnant husband and had become the new ruler. The princess—now an empress—married her warrior love and the two of them brought justice and goodness to the universe once more. They reigned for many happy years…_

Shiro can barely keep his eyes open, Allura’s voice soothing him to the point of relaxation. She’s tired too, he can tell. She puts the tablet aside, but doesn’t get up or leave. She just turns toward him and lies down on her side. There’s enough room on the cushion, so he mirrors her position. She’s so close, so warm, and he can’t quite stop himself from settling his arm around her waist and pulling her closer. Her eyes are very blue.

“Tell me about Altea,” he whispers.

“It was so beautiful, the most beautiful place in the universe. The mountains were so tall, and in the summer, they were covered in blooming flowers. The blooms were vibrant and fragrant, in every imaginable color. And at night, under the light of our three moons, some of them would glow bright enough to rival the stars themselves. My mother would take me out sometimes at night, and we would lie together in the fields of flowers, and not move for hours.” She pauses, watching him. “Tell me about Earth.”

He does. He describes the Garrison, Matt, how he met Keith. He tells her about his mother, his grandmother, the house where he grew up. They talk and talk, until his voice is almost hoarse and all he can do is whisper.

“—and then the musicians started playing this beautiful ballad, and my parents danced underneath the stars.” Her eyes are shining as she speaks and Shiro can’t stop himself anymore.

He reaches out, and presses his hand to her cheek. Allura’s skin is warm and soft, and he strokes his thumb across her cheekbone. “If I kissed you now, princess, would it screw everything up?” he murmurs.

“It would be worse if you didn’t kiss me,” she whispers in return, her breath ghosting across his lips.

His mouth meets hers, slow and soft, and he kisses her as gently as he can. She tastes sweet, like brown sugar, when he brushes his tongue across her bottom lip. She opens to him with a soft sigh, and then they’re kissing in earnest.

She pulls him on top of her, legs parting to cradle him close, and her fingers dig into his shoulders. He braces his metal hand beside her waist and buries the other in her hair. She moans, arching into him. Slow turns to fast and frantic, and Allura’s hands are everywhere—sliding down his back, gripping his waist, palming his ass. Shiro wonders if he can die from wanting her as much as he does.

She rucks up his shirt, fingers finding his too-warm skin. She presses the heel of her hand to the small of his back and his hips grind into hers. He groans, unable to stop the sound, and is almost embarrassed by it until she hums with satisfaction. She pulls her mouth from his and sets her teeth to his neck. Shiro can’t think, can barely breathe, all he can do is press himself closer to Allura.

“We…we should stop. Cool down,” he gasps as she sucks a hickey into the skin beneath his jaw.

“Why?” She’s only a little less breathless than he is.

“I don’t want to— _god—_ cross any boundaries…or move too fast.” He’s achingly hard, but he makes himself pull back from her, placing his hands on either side of her head and locking his elbows.

She’s flushed and mussed, her eyes dark as she looks up at him. “Shiro—Takashi—I want this. I want _you_. You don’t have to stop out of consideration for me; we’ll stop if you really want to, but know this: I won’t regret anything that happens between us.” She cups his face between her hands. “Don’t you want me?”

“More than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life,” he says fervently.

And then they’re kissing again and any reservations Shiro has are lost to heat and sensation. She quickly divests him of his shirt, while he hikes up her skirt to get at her long legs. His knuckles brush her thigh as he moves his hand higher and higher. He’s rewarded with a breathy moan as his fingers find her core.

“Is this okay?” he asks, remembering the excruciating—but somewhat enlightening—sex talk Captain Holt had given him and Matt when they were younger. (“Consent is sexy, boys. Remember that.”)

“Yes, stars, yes.” She sounds absolutely wrecked and Shiro’s head spins.

He wants— _needs_ —to know what she tastes like. “Allura, can…can I go down on you?”

Her roaming hands stop and she takes a steadying breath. “I’m not sure I know what that means.”

“Oh. Um. I want to…kiss you between your legs.” Shiro is pretty sure his face has never been this red before. “Do Alteans not do that?”

She giggles at his embarrassment. “We do, I’ve just never heard that expression for it. You humans certainly come up with some strange terminology.”

Shiro ducks his head to kiss her collarbone, trying to hide his awkwardness.

Allura strokes his hair. “I would very much like you to do that, though. I’ll bet your mouth is even more clever than your hands.”

He groans and moves down her body, pushing the thin skirt of her nightgown up and up and up, until she’s bare before him. The scent of her, that sweet, intoxicating scent, is stronger now and Shiro makes a small sound of need in the back of his throat before burying his face between her legs.

Shiro goes slow, savoring the sweetness of her slick on his tongue. He remembers, suddenly, the day before the Kerberos mission, when he and Matt had gone to the Garrison kitchens and made chocolate-chip cookies from scratch. Part of the recipe had him beat softened butter, vanilla extract, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in a bowl “until creamy”. Allura tastes like that, sweet and addictive, and almost too much but also not remotely enough.

“Takashi,” she moans as she comes, her heel digging into his back where he’s thrown her leg over his shoulder.

He leans over her, grinning. “How was that?”

Allura laughs a bit and pulls him down for a kiss. “I was right about your mouth,” she says against his lips. “You might just be the most wonderful male I’ve ever met—of any species, my paladin. I think I’ll keep you.” She reaches down and strokes him through his pants, smirking when he gasps.

“You don’t have to,” he says softly, his forehead against hers, their noses brushing.

“I know. I want to.”

She flips them, manhandling him with ridiculously sexy ease. Shiro doesn’t think he’s ever been this turned on in his life. She then proceeds to pull down his pants and take him into her mouth.

“Fuck,” he hisses, trying not to thrust up into the delicious heat of her mouth. “Allura—” She hums around him, swallows him down, and he’s lost.

He knows he should be mortified by how quickly he came, but Allura seems so pleased with herself—like the cat who got the cream—that all he feels is bone-deep satisfaction and heart-stopping adoration. He’s almost a hundred percent sure he’s in love with her, this beautiful, wonderful girl.

She lays her head on his bare chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart. Shiro closes his eyes, warm and content, and falls asleep to the soft sound of her breathing. It’s the first time he doesn’t have any nightmares.

 

He wakes slowly, disoriented for a moment, before remembering where he is and who is draped across his chest. His chest is full of blooming warmth, and he feels better rested than he has in months. Allura stirs and brings herself up on one elbow to watch him.

“Hey,” Shiro says, voice rough with sleep—and probably from all the embarrassing sounds he’d made the night before.

“Hello.” She sits up and cards her fingers through her hair.

 _I would die for you_ , he thinks. “Did you sleep well?”

She grins and leans down to kiss him. “Very well. I should sleep with you more often, my paladin. It seems you keep my nightmares at bay.”

“I’m glad.”

“Mmmm. I think breakfast will be soon, and we’ve lots to do today.” She stands, pulling him with her. “You and the others are training, and I know Coran and I have some maintenance to do around the ship.”

“Right. So, I’ll see you later then?”

She cups the back of his neck and brings him down for another kiss. “You will, Takashi,” she says softly, sending shivers down Shiro’s spine.

He’s in way over his fucking head and he doesn’t care one bit.

 

She sleeps in his bed most nights, slips in when the castle is dark and quiet. It’s not a secret, their relationship, not exactly. They’re not hiding it, but they’re not broadcasting it either. They just want to keep it between them. It’s new and somewhat fragile, and Shiro doesn’t want anyone’s opinion on it but Allura’s. And she feels the same.

They spend their days trying to act normal, trying to be professional, and at night they fuck until they’re too tired or too sore to continue. Shiro’s never felt this way about anyone before, never. He’s dated, he’s been attracted to other people, but this is different. Allura is special. He feels it in his bones.

He can’t get enough of her, her scent, her taste, the way she feels pressed against him, the sounds she makes. He spends hours just exploring her body, figuring out everything that makes her squirm or giggle or moan. He’ll never get tired of Allura, of that Shiro is absolutely certain. He understands, now, why so many books and songs and movies are about love.

 

“It’s taking off! Get in the pod!” Allura cries, arms straining, fingers buried in crumpled metal.

“I’m not leaving you,” he grits out. And he isn’t. He would never leave her, he’d rather die. She’s the love of his life, his best friend—besides Matt and Keith—and he’s not going to fucking leave her on a Galra ship. Shiro presses his metal hand to the crack in the doors, trying to weld it together with his prosthetic. He’s never been more grateful for his replaced arm than he is now.

“You have to!”

She grabs him by the collar of his armor and throws him—literally throws him across the room, like he weighs no more than a kitten (or Pidge)—into the escape pod. He’s always known she’s stronger than he is, but he’s never experienced her strength quite like this.

“No!” he yells, but it’s too late. The pod closes and he’s trapped. He slams his fists against the unyielding metal, horror and fear coursing through him.

Allura’s eyes meet his, determination clear on her face. She doesn’t look away, even as the Galra swarm around her, even as the pod launches. Something brittle inside Shiro’s chest snaps. He’s never hated himself more.

 

“Where’s Allura?” Keith asks as Shiro enters Green’s cockpit, shoulders slumped.

“Shiro?” Lance’s voice is tight with worry.

Shiro reaches out a hand to steady himself on Pidge’s chair. He can barely breathe. “She sacrificed herself to save me.”

“So she’s still on that ship?” Pidge.

“The ship that’s headed to Zarkon’s central command?” Hunk.

“The place that’s way too dangerous for us to attack?” Keith.

“It doesn’t matter how dangerous it is. We can’t let Zarkon get Allura,” Shiro interjects.

“But you said going there would be a huge mistake. You said for us to attack that place head-on would be the dumbest possible thing we could ever do,” Hunk says, ever the voice of reason.

Shiro bows his head and clenches his fists. “I know, but now we don’t have a choice.”

He has to save her, even if it’s the last thing he’ll ever do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've decided some things for this particular AU I'm writing.   
> 1\. There's like a month between the events of "Crystal Venom" and "Collection and Extraction"  
> 2\. Allura is like 22 and Shiro is like 25  
> 3\. Shiro is a huge fucking sap  
> Anyway, there will be more stuff. I'm hooked on this story idea. I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it. Also, comments give me strength and kudos warm my heart. I love you all.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! So I've been working on this since like season three came out and I hope you like it. Some of the time stuff is kinda vague or made up, so just work with me. I hope you guys like it.


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